Viewpoints...

The challenge of walking in gardens is being able to take the time to look both up and down, into the distance, and with a magnifying glass.  Each view allows for a unique experience.  Sometimes, the overall view is stunning enough that one can't focus on much else.  Sometimes the amazement is in the details.

From these photos, one can't easily perceive that the blooms in the bottom picture are about the size of one's thumbnail, and that the ones on top are relatively normal pansies.

A walk through the gardens yesterday with a dear friend became another reminder of the benefits of changing one's viewpoint.  If you failed to look up, you missed the blooming redbuds, and if you failed to look at the horizon, you missed the vistas of the pink stucco-ed house on the hill with flowers and greening trees as a backdrop.

I was taught by a wise young man that the best path is to research, ask many questions of many sources, and gather as much information as possible before coming to a conclusion.  I think that method holds true in all sorts of circumstances.